Category Archives: Australian politics

China accuses Australia of ‘political posturing’ over diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

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Scott Morrison says athletes will compete in next year’s Games because sport and politics should not mix

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has confirmed Australian officials will not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, joining the United States in a diplomatic boycott of next year’s Games and prompting accusations from Beijing of political posturing.

Morrison told reporters in Sydney it was “not surprising”, given the deterioration in the diplomatic relationship between Australia and China, that officials would not attend next year’s winter Games.

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Bernard Collaery trial: Coalition tells high court release of judgment would risk national security

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Collaery won ACT court of appeal case lifting previous secrecy orders and declaring importance of open justice

The full publication of a key judgment in the trial of Bernard Collaery would prejudice Australia’s national security and must not be allowed, the federal government has told the high court.

Prior to October, significant parts of Collaery’s trial were to be shrouded in secrecy after some of Australia’s most senior intelligence and foreign affairs officials convinced a court of the risk an open hearing posed to national security.

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Australia live news update: NSW teachers’ strike closes nearly 400 public schools; Victoria pandemic bill becomes law

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David Littleproud says ‘conversations are happening’ about Olympics boycott; NSW teachers’ strike closes nearly 400 public schools; three new Omicron cases detected in ACT, six Covid-19 infections overall; Victoria pandemic bill becomes law; ; Victoria records 1,185 cases and seven deaths; NSW records 260 cases and two deaths – follow all the day’s news

A suspected shark attack on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula has left two teens in hospital and shut a beach, reports Callum Godde from AAP.

Emergency services were called to Ocean Grove, south east of Geelong, just after 7pm on Monday.

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Qld border to reopen 13 December, Palaszczuk says; SA premier advised to close border with NSW over Omicron – As it happened

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Annastacia Palaszczuk brings forward Qld border reopening; Steven Marshall ‘very concerned’ by Omicron as SA records four Covid cases; Perth stripped of Ashes series finale; Victoria records 1,073 new cases and six deaths, NSW records 208 cases, ACT six; Katherine lockdown extended as NT records one case; Australia could be renewables ‘superpower’ but has wasted time, Chris Bowen says.

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A New South Wales government plan to control feral horses in Kosciuszko national park will allow horses to remain in the only known habitat of one of Australia’s most imperilled freshwater fishes and risks pushing the species closer to extinction.

Conservationists say allowing horses to continue to roam around some sections of the park will put vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems at risk.

There are lot of reasons even though they don’t get as sick as adults, they have a pretty strong role in spreading it back to family members and of course that can include parents and also, of greater concern, the grandparents. The older you are, the impacts of getting seriously ill or worse with Covid is greater.

The other reason is just so kids can do what kids are meant to do – go to school, play with their friends, do sport, do exercise, do social things.

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Scott Morrison repeats that Australians have ‘had a gutful of governments in their lives’; Peter Cundall dies at 94 – As it happened

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Gardening legend Peter Cundall dies aged 94 as PM repeats that Australians have had a ‘gutful of governments in their lives’. This blog is now closed

Hunt is asked whether states, like Queensland, will hold off opening state borders until at least 80% of kids aged five to 11 are vaccinated given today’s announcement.

Hunt:

There is no reason for that. The Doherty modelling was set out very clearly on the 80% rates for double dosed across the country for 16 plus, and what we have seen now is that in terms of the 12 to 15-year-olds, we have now had an extra 1.8 million vaccinations over and above the Doherty modelling. The Doherty modelling was based on an 80% national rate for double dosed and didn’t include 12 to 15-year-olds.

A bit over a fifth of all cases of Covid are actually in the under 12s. Indeed, some of the early data with Omicron suggests it may actually be higher for the Omicron variant ... While most kids to get fairly mild infection and only a limited number end up in ICU, is great, there are bigger impacts.

Unfortunately about one in 3,000 of the kids who get Covid actually end up with this funny immunological condition called multi-system inflammatory condition. Those kids can end up being very sick for months. It is not the same as long Covid but it has some things in common, and it has a whole range of symptoms where the kid is just not well. That is one of the things we are protecting against by vaccinating children...

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Dog noises, name calling, claims of abuse: a week of shame in Australian politics

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Despite a review finding one in three parliamentary staffers have been sexually harassed, behaviour inside the building shows no sign of improvement

Allegations of abuse and accusations of widespread sexism. Bullying and harassment particularly of women. A cabinet minister stood aside pending an investigation into claims by a former staffer that their relationship was at times “abusive”. Even by the low standards of the Australian parliament, it was a week of horror in Canberra.

The final sitting week of parliament for the year began with a long-awaited report on sexual harassment and cultural issues within the parliament, which found one in three parliamentary staffers “have experienced some form of sexual harassment while working there”.

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Australia politics live update: parliament sitting for final day of the year; Coles accused by FWO of underpaying staff

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Fair Work Ombudsman accuses Coles of underpaying 7,800 staff; Victoria records 10 Covid deaths and 1,419 new cases, NSW 271 cases and zero deaths – follow all the day’s news

If you want to really wrap your noggin around those mitochondrial donation laws and why they’re so important, here’s Full Story for you. Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to reporter Rafqa Touma about her family’s experience:

Two incredible women who have had an enormous influence on 2021 – Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins – have joined Fran Kelly on ABC radio.

It remains to be seen if there’s any actual change. That’s my opinion.

We know there are structural needs that need to be addressed. None of this is new information.”

It wasn’t about me, it was about maintaining power … I don’t think fundamentally anything has changed internally within the building policy-wise that would stop this happening to another woman.

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Religious discrimination bill: moderate Liberals strike deal to protect gay students

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Proposed amendments to Sex Discrimination Act may not be enough to see legislation pass lower house this week

The Morrison government has struck a deal with some moderate Liberal MPs to support its contentious religious discrimination bill, agreeing to make immediate changes to protect gay students from discrimination in religious schools.

But the proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act, which were negotiated between Queensland MP Angie Bell and the attorney general, Michaelia Cash, may not be enough to win over all moderate MPs and see the bill pass through the lower house this week.

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Australia live news update: Jenkins report finds one in three face sexual harassment in parliament; fifth NSW case of Omicron Covid variant detected

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Labor targets Coalition over quarantine facilities during question time; Fifth case of Omicron Covid variant detected in Sydney; Jenkins report reveals one in three parliament staffers experience sexual harassment; Victoria records 917 cases and six deaths; NSW records 179 cases and three deaths – follow all the day’s news live

For those asking, there are five cases of the new Omicron confirmed in Australia – all are in quarantine.

There are four in Sydney (after two more were confirmed late yesterday) and one in the Northern Territory.

The corporate regulator has taken the unprecedented step of launching multiple legal actions at once against one of Australia’s big four banks.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has hit Westpac with six civil penalty proceedings in the federal court, which could draw a combined penalty of more than $100m.

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Coalition’s proposed parliamentary calendar has just 10 sitting days in first half of 2022

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Labor dubs schedule – which suggests a May election – ‘more of a slouch than a sitting calendar’ as government runs out of time to establish federal integrity commission

Labor has criticised the Coalition for proposing a parliamentary sitting calendar for next year that includes just 10 sitting days before August if an election is called immediately after the budget.

The release of the sparse sitting calendar comes as the government runs out of time to fulfil an election promise to establish a federal integrity commission, amid ongoing divisions within the party about the best model for a new anti-corruption body.

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Australia politics live update: national cabinet to discuss Omicron response as Covid variant detected in NSW; ABC announces new RN Breakfast host

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National cabinet meeting brought forward to discuss Omicron response; Patricia Karvelas announced as Fran Kelly’s replacement for RN Breakfast; radical plan to rehome racehorses; last sitting week of 2021. Follow all the news live

Over on Sydney radio 2GB NSW police minister David Elliott said he met with with premier Dominic Perrottet and health minister Brad Hazzard on Sunday about what NSW would do:

I’m not panicking at the moment because it appears that this is going to be the new normal.

We need to prepare and ... make sure that we’re flexible and agile when it comes to variations and we need to be defensive and that defensive mechanism of course, is the vaccination.

So, we’re taking a risk-balanced approach at the moment and concentrating on those nine southern African countries.

We have increased our surveillance at the border, and after the border, we’re working very closely with our colleagues in New South Wales and Victoria, particularly, because they’re the ones that have had quarantine-free travel, as well as in the ACT, as to what is the best approach.

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Australian government’s ‘anti-troll’ legislation would allow social media users to sue bullies

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Laws would require companies to reveal users’ identities but experts say focus on defamation will not help curb rates of online bullying

The Australian government is set to introduce some of the toughest “anti-troll” legislation in the world, but experts say its focus on defamation will not help curb the rates of online bullying or cyberhate.

On Sunday prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced his government would introduce legislation to parliament this week that would make social media companies reveal the identities of anonymous trolling accounts and offer a pathway to sue those people for defamation.

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Australia live news updates: Greg Hunt closes border to southern Africa in response to Omicron Covid variant; five deaths and new protests in Victoria

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Australians attempting to return from nine African nations to be subject to hotel quarantine

New South Wales double-dose vaccination rates have hit 94.5% for people over 16.

For those 12-15, the rates are also increasing rapidly. 81.2% have had a single dose; 76.2% are fully vaccinated.

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Australia news live update: Dutton ‘a dangerous personality’, Keating says as China responds to speech; flood warnings for NSW

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Peter Dutton ‘a dangerous personality’, Paul Keating says; China responds after defence minister warns against ‘mistakes of the 1930s’; record Queensland native title claim granted; WHO calls meeting over new Covid variant; Victoria records 1,362 new cases, NSW 261; police update on William Tyrrell search; Australia on track for wettest spring in a decade. Follow latest updates

Between 1.5m and 2m Australians are only one life shock away from homelessness, new research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

Large numbers of Australia’s renters could fall into homelessness if they go through a relationship breakup, get a serious illness or lose work.

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Morrison accuses critics of wanting ‘kangaroo court’ as Liberal MP crosses floor over integrity bill

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PM says Gladys Berejiklian was ‘done over’ by NSW Icac but Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer says government needs to act

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has accused critics of wanting a “kangaroo court” to oversee federal parliament after he faced an internal revolt over the Coalition’s failure to establish a commonwealth integrity commission.

On Thursday morning, the Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to support independent MP Helen Haines’ push to establish a federal integrity commission. Archer had told Guardian Australia she was frustrated with the government’s “inertia” on the issue.

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Australia politics live update: Scott Morrison to introduce religious discrimination bill to parliament

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Legislation which contains a controversial statement of belief clause is expected to pass the lower house before being examined by a Senate committee. Follow live updates

AAP has a bit more on the Byron Bay hostel lockdown:

More than 80 backpackers at a Byron Bay hostel on the NSW north coast have been placed into a week-long lockdown after a guest tested positive to COVID-19.

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Australia politics live news: Coalition and Labor test new Speaker’s limits in question time; NT records 11 new Covid cases

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Lorraine Finlay also says she doesn’t believe her past political aspirations with the Liberal party will impact her job.

Certainly my past political involvement doesn’t qualify me for the role, but it also isn’t a disqualification from the role.

Now the human rights commission is an independent, apolitical statutory agency. And as the human rights commissioner, let me be very clear, I am not a politician. It is not a political role. And I fully intend to operate within the established framework of the commission.

What I can say is my personal views, haven’t changed, but my role has, and I’m very aware that as human rights commissioner I do need to take a broader perspective and there are a variety of views and opinions that need to be taken into account.

So again, I don’t see this role as my personal soapbox. I’m not a politician by default, I am here to do a very specific job. And I intend to operate very squarely within the framework of the commission to perform these duties.

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Labor blasts Barnaby Joyce for appointing Tamworth mayor and ‘solid supporter’ for infrastructure role

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Nationals leader accused opposition of being ‘academic snobs’ who lacked commitment to regional Australia

Labor has blasted Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce for being set to appoint the retiring mayor of Tamworth, Col Murray, as the new chair of Infrastructure Australia.

Asked on Tuesday by the shadow infrastructure Catherine King whether he could confirm that the Morrison government had decided, but not yet announced, that Murray, “who has described himself as a fairly solid Barnaby supporter” would be the new chair of the infrastructure advisory body, Joyce rounded on the opposition.

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Australia politics live update: Morrison confirms special visa holders can enter; hundreds leave NT public service over vaccine mandate

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International border changes announced; hundreds leave NT public service over vaccine mandate; Katherine lockdown extended; question time begins in Canberra; Labor and Coalition scrap over PM’s response to protesters’ threats; Victoria records 1,029 Covid cases, three deaths; 180 new cases, one death in NSW. Follow all the day’s news live

Simon Birmingham may be trying to walk back the “both sides” of the so-called freedom protests, which included threats of violence and death against sitting state MPs, but Barnaby Joyce is holding the line. There is a lot of work being done by a small group of people to make sure those protesting aren’t all labelled as “mad”. This is despite that same group of people usually condemning peaceful protests from the left.

Here is Joyce on the Seven network this morning:

There’s not there’s not a person in this building, not any one, I hope exists that says that threatening a person’s life, building gallows, doing all that kind of total garbage is something that is just … we don’t want it.

OK. So, no one is suggesting for one second, we do that. And it’s outrageous.

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One Nation anti-vaccine mandate bill rejected despite support from five Coalition senators

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Scott Morrison plays down government division, saying Liberal and National parties are ‘not run as an autocracy’

One Nation’s anti-Covid vaccination mandate bill has been rejected in the Senate, despite five government senators crossing the floor to support it.

On Monday morning Liberals Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic, who have threatened to withhold support from government legislation, voted for the bill contradicting the Morrison government’s aged care vaccine mandate and state government public health orders.

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